Published by Kunsthaus Bregenz.Text by Philippe Van Cauteren, Yuko Hasegawa.

The sculptural tableau of Belgian artist, playwright, director, choreographer and stage designer Jan Fabre make use of puns and symbolism. This volume contains gatefolds, installation photos and texts.

Published by Hatje Cantz.Text by Yuko Hasegawa, Peter Weiermair.

Edgar Allan Poe wrote, "The death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world." Ophelia, Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina are evidence that other writers and artists have agreed. Fusing Poe's sentiment with the Buddhist imperative to muse daily on one's own death, Japanese photographer Izima Kaoru asks Japanese and European actresses and models to collaborate with him in staging their own demises. The resulting images bring a melancholic palate and impeccable technique to an assortment of figures who have expired with perfect coiffure--made up and sporting couture by such designers as Vivienne Westwood, Gucci, Prada and Dior. There is something filmic about Kaoru's framing, which alternates between long shot and close-up, yet the narrative remains shadowy. This volume assembles for the first time 43 such scenes from 1993 to the present. They are influenced by art historical references ranging from traditional Japanese Ukiyo-e woodcuts to contemporary Pop.

Performances, Paintings, Sculptures

Published by Damiani.Edited by Eleonora Battiston. Texts by Yuko Hasegawa, Serge Lenczner and Ma Liuming.

Along with fellow performance artist Zhang Huan, Ma Liuming is widely considered one of China’s most innovative artists. He took up performance art after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, but was not able to show his work publicly until many years later. By the late 1990s, he had attracted international attention and begun showing abroad. Born in 1969, Liuming grew up in a China increasingly open to the rest of the world; in 1993, he had a formative studio visit with British artists Gilbert & George, who were in Beijing for an exhibition. Androgynous and confrontational, Liuming is now best known for his radical performances as the lipsticked female alter ego, Fen. For example, in “Fen Ma Liuming in Lyon (France),” first performed in 2001, he drugs himself with sleeping pills and sits virtually motionless, while the audience is invited onstage. Audience activity varies from location to location, but usually at least a few take their own clothing off and join him. With an essay by writer and curator Eleonora Battiston, who specializes in Chinese contemporary art, this volume is a rare contextualization of Luiming’s daring oeuvre.

Published by Walther König, Köln.Essays by Magnus Haglund and Yuko Hasegawa.

Want to see what sound thinking looks like? Tune into the gorgeously spare, sophisticated and aurally inspired sculptures, installations and paintings of noted sound artist Carsten Nicolai in the most comprehensive collection to date of his work. From 2004,Perfect Square's flat glass sheets play with mathematical theory, while elsewhere, turntables, speakers and fluorescent lights rock his audiovisual environments.

Europe and the Others

What is the role of the contemporary artist in a reality that interprets cultures as conflicting parties and Europe as a closed space? How does his identity develop in relation to European cultures and those that exist elsewhere in the world? Does there exist an acceptable comparative footing that permits otherwise explosive diversities to engage in dialogue with each other? These questions were the starting point for an international forum on the deepest cultural roots of European thought. Hosted in Como in 2004 by the Antonio Ratti Foundation, the forum welcomed renowned intellectuals, curators and critics who posed crucial questions about the implications and future prospects of creativity. Presented here are the panels and discussions that arose from the forum on an historically and traditionally divided multi-identity Europe, which is now attempting to unite politically and economically.

Published by ApexArt Curatorial Program.

Foci gathers together interviews with ten of the most renowned curators working internationally in the field of contemporary art. The interviews are rich with wide-ranging dialogue and cover issues such as the relationship between the exhibit and its location, art as the barometer for the age, the role of architecture, fashion and design in shaping art, the notions of national and gender identity in art, as well as more specific issues concerning personal curatorial styles. Interviews with Kasper Koenig, Rosa Martinez, Hou Hanru, Harald Szeemann, Vasif Kortun, Maria Hlavajova, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Dan Cameron, Yuko Hasegawa and Barbara London give the reader a fascinating insight into the work and thought process of some of the most creative individuals in today's art world.

A modern update of the Medieval trade manuals--the 'come-along-with-me' (vade mecum) of Medieval craftsmen--Words of Wisdom: A Curator's Vade Mecum is an invaluable guidebook for anyone interested in contemporary art and the practice of curating. In over fifty short essays, this compendium offers advice to a new generation of curators from veterans of contemporary art exhibitions who, over the past 25 years, have played a crucial role in shaping what we see today, and how we see it. While providing an intimate look at the minds of these master curators, Words of Wisdom also establishes the curator's craft as an important vocation that has changed tremendously over the past quarter-century. In the course of their musings, the curators offer behind-the-scenes insights into influential exhibitions and institutions and the contemporary art world they represent. Among the contributors are Jean-Christophe Amman, director of the Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt, Germany; Donna de Salvo, curator at the Tate Gallery, London; Richard Flood, chief curator at the Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis; independent curator Hans Ulrich Obrist; and Marcia Tucker, founding director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York.